"Sh-h! Sh-h! Keep still," the old woman whispered. "You'll wake 'em all up. Jes' yer stay right heah tell I see ef I kin fin' Zebby."
So it was that a half hour later they were jogging along the highway towards the town, the starlight so brilliant that the lanterns were not needed.
"Oh! look, Mammy, there's a shooting star!" cried Natalia.
"Humph! I ain' studyin' bout no shootin' stahs. I'm mighty worr'd bout whut ole Miss gwine say when she kotch up wid me," grunted Dicey. "Ef she done tek er notion she sell me, leaf's not."
"But she can't, Mammy, because you belong to me. You and Zebby both."
When they had reached Judge Houston's house, the front door was wide open, and the sound of many voices, and the sight of many lights within, made Natalia hesitate; then she made Dicey go in and ask for Mrs. Houston.
In a moment the old lady was standing in the doorway, talking to Dicey, and then hurrying down the steps.
"Natalia! What in the world are you doing here?" she exclaimed.
"I've come to tell him good-bye. Is he in there?"
"He—who?"